Bird Ballad Masculine Birthday Card

Hello, Crafters.

Today’s card is a masculine birthday card made with the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper (DSP). It was only when I started working with this design yesterday that I looked at the design properly and realised that what I had assumed were seagulls are actually swifts or something similar! I have to admit that when I realised this, the design became a lot more interesting!

At first, I was going to use Pool Party and Whisper White Cardstock (CS) but I decided Basic Black CS would make the card far more striking! I started with a card base of Pool Party CS, then a layer of Basic Black CS and a top layer of the Pool Party swift design. I fussy cut two of the largest birds and then I fussy cut the third bird for inside my card.

I was surprised how much smaller the larger birds looked after they had been fussy-cut! LOL! While I was fussy-cutting the birds I made sure I cut off all the Pool Party DSP which left me with white edges on the birds. To colour all the edges using my Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker I held each bird in my left hand while I held my Marker in my right-hand with the brush tip pointing upwards. I went all around the edge on each bird just allowing my marker to touch the edge gently.

Whenever I colour the cut edges of images I always hold my Marker in this way in case it slips. This way, if that does happen, my marker will mark the reverse of my image! No real damage was done! The BIRTHDAY CHEER TO YOU ALL YEAR is from the Parcels & Petals Stamp Set. I stamped it on a piece of Whisper White CS using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink.

I die-cut the sentiment using the number 5 die from the Stitched Nested Label Dies. I positioned the sentiment in the middle of the die-cut so I had enough space above and below to adhere the birds. Now I reached the tricky bit! I used die number 6 to die-cut a Basic Black CS label but I wasn’t happy how it looked when layered under the Whisper White CS layer – I prefer my layers to have the same size gap all round. I was also hoping to get the stitch line all round, too!

The only way I could think of achieving this was to die-cut a piece of Basic Black CS using the number 5 die and putting the inner label aside for a future project. Then I wondered how difficult would it be to trim off the outside of the stitching so I had an equal edge all round! Since I finished struggling with it, I have thought of a way to make it easy and straightforward. After I had finished cutting off the edges, the white label fitted inside the black label brilliantly!

I’ll have to give this idea another try! I wanted to pop the sentiment up on Dimensionals which meant I had to tape the black and white pieces together from the back. After the struggle with the black label, this bit was a walk in the park! To finish the front of my card I added three large Heart Epoxy Droplets (148583 – page 178) randomly on the DSP and three small ones on the image layer.

Inside the card, I added a layer of Basic Black CS and then a layer of Pool Party CS. I adhered the third fussy-cut bird in the bottom right-hand corner. I’m really pleased how this card turned out! Today’s a very exciting day here in the UK because it’s been two and a half years since the majority of people who voted, voted that we should leave the European Union. After all the wrangling and arguments, today’s the day we are finally leaving!

And on that note, that’s it from me today. I look forward to being back with you tomorrow, and in the meantime, happy crafting.

JanB. xx

Cardstock Layer Sizes: Europe & South Pacific (A4)                                                                                                                                                                                 Card base 8¼” x 5¾” scored and folded at 4 1/8”                                                                                                                                                                                  First layer: 2 pieces 3 7/8” x 5½”                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Top layer: 2 pieces 3¾” x 5 3/8”

Cardstock Layer Sizes: North America (Letter-size)                                                                                                                                                                                      Card base 8½” x 5½” scored and folded at 4¼”                                                                                                                                                                                          First layer: 2 pieces 4” x 5¼”                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Top layer: 2 pieces 3 7/8” x 5 1/8”

Products used for this project: please click on any of the links to be taken to my 24/7 online Stampin’ Up! shop. The Hostess Code for January 2020 is NCFPAHXQ. Thank you. xx

Pool Party A4 Card Stock [124391] £8.25	Basic Black A4 Card Stock [121688] £8.25	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £9.00	Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper [149592] £10.75	Parcels & Petals Bundle [151107] £47.50
Free As A Bird Bundle [151123] £47.50	Stitched Nested Labels Dies [149638] £33.00	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] £5.50	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Refill [133456] £4.75	Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker [100082] £2.75
Heart Epoxy Droplets [148583] £6.00	Paper Trimmer [152392] £23.00	Bone Folder [102300] £6.50	Take Your Pick [144107] £9.00	Paper Snips [103579] £9.25
Grid Paper [130148] £11.75	Silicone Craft Sheet [127853] £5.50	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [154974] £3.75	Stampin’ Dimensionals [104430] £3.75	Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals [144108] £3.75